Inconsistent seasonal temps seriously impact daffodil form!
At last week’s ADS convention, Robert Spotts was concerned about the petaloid form of my ‘Actea’ entry. Ross Hornsby and I have discussed how inconsistently cold Southeastern winters can affect flower form. 
As an example, here’s a pic of my blue ribbon ‘Actea’, from MTDS 2019 alongside my ADS 2023 entry. It’s been so long since I’ve seen the 2019 form that I’d forgotten that’s what it’s “supposed” to look like. This is also the perfect example of why it’s important to understand weather conditions when judging out of your region! 
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A discussion forum for daffodil enthusiasts around the world.
Very interesting point, thanks. Our season here has been stifled. Hard
freeze and wilt with about 8% in bloom a few days ago. Slowly warming now.
Drew Mc Farland
Ben Sloy Farm
Granville, Ohio
An overly severe Hot Water Treatment will also impact flower bloom.
I wonder how we in the South might help flowers develop more normally during weather extremes. Would it be advisable to mist the plants daily during warm or dry weather until the flowers open, as I’ve heard advised for doubles?
Darrin, inconsistent winter temperatures can be a problem in any region. In S. California, we typically get periods of heat with low humidity while flowers are developing, often resulting in crepeiness, smaller flowers, more subdued flower color, and sometimes narrower petals. This year, we had uncharacteristically, and consistently, cool, cloudy, and moist conditions, resulting in incredible color and smoothness. Flowers looked like ones typical from Oregon, the UK or New Zealand. I’ll be lucky if I see this again anytime soon. I had the same problem when I lived in Pennsylvania — every Spring was different!
I think it’s more important to understand the weather conditions in a particular year where the flowers were grown. For local shows, this is usually fairly easy since the majority of flowers shown were grown in that area, and considerations can be made. For a National show, this can create problems — flowers can come from several different regions of the country where the weather conditions can vary greatly in that particular year, and supposedly, judges (whether they’re from the local region or a different region) don’t know where a particular flower has been grown when they are judging. Unfortunately, I think it comes down to “sometimes you get lucky, sometimes you don’t”. By the way, your ‘Actaea’ from 2019 is incredible! I grew hundreds when I was in Pennsylvania, and mine never looked that good.